Papagayo Park: The New Center of Family Life on Peninsula Papagayo

For years, the pull of Peninsula Papagayo has been the water and the wildlife. The quiet coves off the Gulf of Papagayo, the howler monkeys in the forest, the long stretches of coastline you can have mostly to yourself. As of December 2025, there is a new reason to come, and it sits a short ride inland from the beaches: Papagayo Park.

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The park is a $26 million, 23-acre project built as a gathering place for the whole peninsula. Its first phase is open now, and it changes the rhythm of a Papagayo trip in a specific way. Where a day here used to mean choosing between the ocean and the golf course, families now have a third option, a single walkable space where a nine-year-old can ride a pump track while a parent takes a padel lesson and a grandparent settles into a bocce match. Below is what to expect, and how to make the most of it if you are traveling with a mix of ages.

What Papagayo Park Actually Is

Developed by Mohari Hospitality and Gencom and planned with the landscape architecture firm EDSA, Papagayo Park was designed around a simple idea: keep sport, play, wellness, and food close enough together that a group never has to split up for long. The result is a compact campus of courts, pools, studios, and casual dining set into the 1,400-acre peninsula, roughly 30 minutes from Liberia International Airport.

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It is open to guests staying on the peninsula, which includes visitors booking private villas. If you are planning a family trip built around variety rather than a single activity, this is where a lot of the day will happen.

For the Kids

The children's side of the park was clearly the priority, and it shows.

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The Kids Adventure zone pairs a splash pad with a playground that goes beyond the usual slide and swing set. There is a zipline, a log scramble, and enough to climb and cross that younger kids tend to lose track of time. Nearby, the pool complex adds two waterslides and a poolside climbing wall, which is the kind of feature that turns an afternoon swim into the highlight of the trip for the six-to-twelve crowd.

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Older kids and teenagers gravitate to the pump track, a purpose-built circuit of banked turns and rollers for bikes, scooters, and skateboards. It rewards repetition, so a teen who shrugs at it on day one is often out there on day three. There is also a basketball court for pickup games and the inevitable rounds of HORSE.

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Rainy hour or midday heat has an answer too. The art studio runs two instructor-led classes a day, Tuesday through Saturday, rotating through ceramics, printmaking, illustration, and mixed media, with open studio time and DIY kits for kids who want to keep going at their own pace. And when everyone needs a break, Cono Loco, the park's ice cream and gelato spot, sits a few steps from the pool.

For the Adults

The park is just as considered for parents and couples, and much of it holds up as a reason to visit on its own.

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The Racquet Center is the anchor. It has four Rebound Ace tennis courts, six pickleball courts, and two padel courts, open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. You can book a court, take a private lesson, or drop into a weekly clinic, and the park runs tournaments and pop-up events through the year. Padel, in particular, is the fastest-growing racquet sport in the world right now, and Papagayo Park opened its courts with a clinic led by eleven-time world champion Roby Gattiker, which gives a sense of how seriously the program is being run.

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For a quieter morning, the three-lane lap pool is set aside for uninterrupted swims, with towels and training gear on hand. Above the park sits Espira, an open-air shala for wellness classes that shifts into a place to catch the sunset when no class is in session. The art studio's schedule includes sip-and-paint sessions, which tend to fill up with adults as readily as families.

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Then there is the social center of gravity. Patio Social is a relaxed restaurant and bar with a short list of cocktails, positioned so it works whether you are refueling after a match or settling in for the evening. Add a bocce court and a dog park, and the park becomes the kind of place you drift back to rather than visit once.

How It Fits Into the Rest of the Peninsula

Papagayo Park does not replace what people already come to Guanacaste for. It complements it. The peninsula's adventure programs, from surf lessons through SurfX to guided outings with The Explorers, are still running, as is the Arnold Palmer Signature Ocean Course and the network of coves and beach clubs. A new fleet of e-bikes makes it easier to move between the park, the beaches, and the Villas without a car.

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The practical effect is that a single day can now hold more without feeling rushed. A morning on the water, an afternoon at the park, a sunset at Espira, dinner back at the Villa.

Staying Close, With Space to Spread Out

A park built for multigenerational travel pairs naturally with a house rather than a hotel room. That is the case we make at The Smart Villas. Our homes on the peninsula, from the five-bedroom Villa Coral to El Sueño and Villa Tortuga, give a family its own kitchen, its own pool, and enough room that everyone is not on top of each other after a full day out. Each stay includes a concierge who can book your court time, arrange lessons, and handle the logistics so you arrive to a plan rather than a to-do list.

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Some places deserve more than a hotel. Peninsula Papagayo, with Papagayo Park now open, is one of them.

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If you are thinking about a trip, we are happy to help you match the right villa to your group and time it around what you most want to do. Reach out through thesmartvillas.com to start.

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